The district administration will launch a month-long campaign ‘Operation Smile’ from July 1 to help reunite children who have gone missing, with their parents. Presiding over the district-level Child Welfare Committee meeting here, Collector Umesh Kumar Agrawal said that Operation Smile would be launched in the district with an initiative to trace missing children in Mahasamund.
He asked child helpline to promote and advertise the campaign at all the bus stands, Railway station, schools, ashrams and other public places. Agrawal directed the officials to advertise the telephone number of child helpline. In the meeting, the District Child Protection Officer informed that all the 57 cases produced before the Child Welfare Committee have been disposed of while only 104 cases out of 200 registered with Juvenile Justice Board in the year 2013 have been redressed.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police emphasised on the need of child shelter homes. Informing about the number of children, who went missing from the district, the SP said that out of 103 missing children 30 have been rescued till date.
The meeting was attended by legal Services Authority Secretary Vandana Verma and others. She also stressed on the need for special shelter homes for rehabilitation of multi specially-abled children.